In those pics that Joel guy looks real good, a bit bloofy but good development and shape.A couple of weeks ago a friend showed me some video of him and asked me what I thought.I said he looked good but suspected he might be a "gym physique"... but he did look good here.

Agree with BigRo, winner Patteracki looked like crap in the Super heavies, Nick would have destroyed if he competed! Kevin Jordan has a Pro upper body but needs to bring his legs up! Danny Hester finally got his pro card!

Sweet! We've been friends for 20+ years. I didn't even know he was doing the Nationals.

The amount of praise you've received on Getbig is swelling your ego BigRo.

Your physique is amazing, but not as good as you think.

Until you stand next to those guys don't assume you are just as good.

calm down, i seen right before me guys of that size and bigger, hell i seen mr olympia stage competitors right before me, one guy i personaly know,he bigger than rhoden, if you measure just the size, rhoden just has superior insertions etc.

anyone who thinks ro wouldnt be competitive on an npc stage is delusional.

as ive said, soon is arnold classic, good opurtunity to go for everyone and setltle that right there.

ro is 240 contest ready with tight waist, the others are 20lbs more with thicker waist,yah maybe bit bigger some bodyparts but he wouldnt be dwarfed.at all.

The amount of praise you've received on Getbig is swelling your ego BigRo.

Your physique is amazing, but not as good as you think.

Until you stand next to those guys don't assume you are just as good.

I was quite expressive in all my posts yesterday it was just the moon and the stars nothing to do with an engorging ego now I have my bluestars and my own appreciation thread. I stand by what I was saying mainly that there's a mythos around the USA national stage that obscures some peoples objectivity when viewing these physiques and that pro cards are obtained to easily. Of course they would look better in person than in pics but the lighting was not bad. I am not saying I would make a good pro instead,no, plenty more development needed for that.

I hung out with Nick last month, he looked really good, very focused, strict on his diet. I though it was his show to win. Not sure why he pulled out but from the pics of the other competitors & how he looked a month out at 270+ & very conditioned, I didn't see anyone that would've beaten him. Hopefully he bounce back & get his card next yr.

I was quite expressive in all my posts yesterday it was just the moon and the stars nothing to do with an engorging ego now I have my bluestars and my own appreciation thread. I stand by what I was saying mainly that there's a mythos around the USA national stage that obscures some peoples objectivity when viewing these physiques and that pro cards are obtained to easily. Of course they would look better in person than in pics but the lighting was not bad. I am not saying I would make a good pro instead,no, plenty more development needed for that.

more ifbb pro cards should be issued to top European,Asian....bodybuilders. not just in USA only.

musclecenter, I LOVE YOU BRO , NO HOMO, But I do not understand why you or everyone is saying this, seriously, pro qualifiers in Europe do not yield 1000 entries like the pro qualifiers in the USA so they should not get as many pro cards.

NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY EVERYONE

THE USA GIVES AWAY THE LEAST AMOUNT OF PROCARDS OUT OF THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD

YES, THE VERY LEAST AMOUNT..

For example here in Canada, they give 2 pro cards a year away in the open mens division and if you look at the total entries in the men's open division in Canada, it is around 1000 entries per year

so one can say they give away every year 1 pro card per 500 entries.

Now in the states, it has 350 million people and so many love bodybuilding, like in the tens of thousands per year so the number of pro card per entries is actually lower then any other country. The entries would be even higher then 500 entries per year per pro card.

i dont think BigRo was bragging- actually if anyone takes it as that i'd say the issues lays more with their own insecurities than his.

he was just speaking his mind, which he is entitled to- why shouldnt he be? and who cares if he thinks he can crack top 5 at the Nats- thats bragging? id say thats self awareness.

anyway that being said, objectively its hard to say what anyone would look like in comparison to another till you get them beside each other on stage.

i see a guy who at 6' 240 has great symmetry for a white guy, and he packs on very dense lean tissue, which is kind of good to see given the way things tend to be going.

i'd like to see what hed look like with just 10 more pounds. 10 pounds when you carry it as well as ro does would be a shit ton of muscle.

im staying away from the whole pro card argument. imo it depends on who shows up that day. theres always some freak nobody has really heard about that seems to come out of the woodpile so you can never count on anything, but ro w 10 more pounds and i dont think we'd even need to be having this conversation.

Ok here is the deal with the NPC guys, when your on heavy slin some of your lines may be distorted and aesthetics are compromised hence in a 2 dimensional picture you may not look as good as you would in real life, live and up close.

So where am I going with this?

The European bodybuilders are more aesthetic and have superior qualities which when viewed in a 2-dimensional picture they look extremely impressive, now that is the difference from the NPC guys.

What does this mean on a bodybuilding stage, well it means that the NPC guys are fucken enormous in live view and their 3D affect is insane, they would dwarf the European bodybuilders in a real life stage and this is not clear when comparing pics, that is why all the European guys thing they would best the NPC guys but live in person it becomes a whole different stories.

Now having said that I still think big row is top 5 at the NPC nationals, maybe even top 3 but my lord these guys in real life at the NPC look like enormous monsters and when viewed in picture they look like shit.